


Chasing Swift

by bewaretheboojum



Category: Batman (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Robin (Comics), Robin (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Angst, Case Fic, Drug Use, Future Fic, Jason Todd Lives, M/M, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:54:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24527974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bewaretheboojum/pseuds/bewaretheboojum
Summary: Written for JayTimWeek 2020 - Prompt: Role ReversalSeveral years after Jason is badly injured by the Joker, he has become a more cautious and careful kind of hero. On the other hand, Tim decides that not moving in on a perp quickly gets people killed. When Tim comes back to Gotham after traveling around for a few years, he coaxes Jason out on a case with him and their working styles collide.
Relationships: Tim Drake/Jason Todd
Comments: 6
Kudos: 83
Collections: JayTimWeek





	Chasing Swift

**Author's Note:**

> Written for JayTimWeek 2020 - Prompt: Role Reversal
> 
> Thanks to Kiyoko and Bumpkin for the beta help!

The figures on the screen sped through the warehouse, moving unnaturally quickly as Jason scanned through the video at one and a half speed. Sighing, Jason propped his chin on his fist as he watched his third hour of surveillance footage that evening.

Jason had set the cameras up a few days before, hoping to catch some video of a few dirty cops taking payoffs from a group of drug dealers. 

He had almost forgotten how deeply tedious wading through hours and hours of video could be...

Stomach growling, Jason was contemplating taking a quick dinner break before heading into hour four of video watching when a knock came at his door. Flipping his computer screen to the camera he had pointed at his front door, Jason was surprised to see the person standing there wasn't the doorman or the neighbor across the hall.

It was Drake.

Tilting his head back to look up at the camera, Drake gave a little finger wave and a knowing smile. Jason swore softly and shook his head, trying not to smile wryly.

Jason didn't see much of Tim these days. After graduating from that fancy art college in Paris, he had become a big shot fashion photographer a few years back. He mostly split his time between Gotham, New York, Metropolis, and Paris doing shoots and consultations. His name was always plastered in some glossy magazine or other. While Bruce would absolutely never admit it, he bought every magazine that Tim's work had ever been published in.

And even if Bruce did admit it, Tim would never believe it.

Even when Tim was in Gotham, he didn't always make a point to stop by and see Jason. While the two of them had never really had a falling out, but as a rule, Tim tried to avoid anyone who was still working with Bruce regularly. Jason understood that and tried not to let it sting too much. 

But now, on camera, Tim looked...

Tim looked tense but good. He was dressed with the easy, carefree stylishness he picked up when he went off to that fancy art college in Paris. Bruce had hoped, at one point many years ago, that Tim would attend Ivy like Jason had been at the time. Tim hadn't even entertained the thought. 

If Jason were being honest with himself, Paris had done Tim some good. Being away from Gotham had helped him relax a little more, though Jason would be lying if he said he didn’t miss Tim while he was away.

Levering himself to his feet, Jason padded to the door and pulled it open.

"How did you get past the doorman?" Jason asked,

Tim just gave him a sharp, sly smile and pushed past him into the apartment, kicking off his shoes.

"You hungry?" he asked, ignoring the question as he lifted a small brown paper bag.

Tim made his way over to Jason's kitchen and started rooting around in his cupboards for plates and cups.

"Maybe... Whatcha got?" Jason asked, feeling his annoyance give way to hunger as he eyed the bag Tim had dropped on the counter.

"Steak sandwiches from Jean-o’s and beer."

"Cheese fries, too?" Jason asked, snooping in the bag.

"What do you think this is, amateur hour?" Tim asked, pretending to take offense. "Of course I brought cheese fries."

"Your offering is acceptable, what do you want?"

Tim didn't answer as he put the plates out on the counter and started depositing food on them. He eyed Jason seriously for a long moment before pulling a six-pack of beer out of the bag. He handed Jason one and popped open another for himself.

Tapping his can to Jason's in a mock salute.

"To your health," he said with a tinge of bitterness to his voice.

"Asshole," Jason replied but took a sip of his beer anyway.

Jason's health was a topic most of the family pointedly danced around. Tim had been the only one who ever really discussed it head-on. It was, at the same time, a relief and a source of stress for Jason.

Ever since the incident with the Joker, the rest of the family had treated his health with some degree of delicacy. Jason would be the first to admit he didn't like to dwell on that time, either. If Bruce and Dick had gotten to him that night any later, he probably would have died.

As it was, he was severely injured. The road to recovery was long and hard. It had been years before he was ready to get back out into the field, again. In the meantime, Tim had taken over for him as Robin. Things had worked well. Jason had done research and monitored everyone in the field while he recovered and Tim was out there watching Bruce’s back. The two of them had each other to tease Bruce and commiserate with, sneak junk food and watch bad movies on snowy nights. Jason liked working with Tim and he had been looking forward to getting back out into the field with him until...

After Superboy had died, it was like everything chafed at Tim. Bruce, Batman, Dick, and sometimes even Gotham City seemed to have stifled him. He left for Paris the minute he got the chance. He went to art school and afterward he never really settled down in one place.

Tim had left everything behind, including Robin. When he moved away he took on the new code name, Swift, and Jason had eventually gone back into the field as Red Robin.

While Jason became more measured and cautious, Tim had become a little less so. He took less time to think and moved to immediately take out any crooks he could find before they became a more serious threat.

They had both started in on their sandwiches before Tim finally answered Jason's question.

"There's a new group in Gotham distributing a party drug. PTMG."

"I'm familiar," Jason said, simply.

"I'm assuming you already know about the group distributing it."

"I do."

"How long until they're shut down?" Tim pressed, taking a sip of beer.

"That... remains to be seen," Jason hedged.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Tim asked, his voice going flinty as he narrowed his eyes and put down his sandwich.

"I noticed them a couple of weeks ago. I've been keeping tabs on them ever since. They're working to establish themselves in Gotham so they're trying to find some cops and city officials to pay off. We're using this an opportunity to draw out corruption and--"

"We?" Tim cut him off, sharply.

"Bruce thinks--"

"Does Bruce know that people are dying because of this drug."

"He thinks getting to the bottom of the--"

Tim shot to his feet, shaking his head as he glared at Jason.

"This is how people die, Jason. Needlessly. He's so fucking arrogant. If he had let you put a stop to this the minute you caught on to these guys--"

"Tim no one has died yet and--"

Cutting Jason off with a sharp swipe of his hand, Tim moved to dig his camera out of the messenger bag he had slung over the chair in Jason's kitchen. Cradling the camera with a confident, practiced delicacy of touch, Tim pulled up a picture on the viewfinder screen. He held it out for Jason to look.

It was the image of what had, at one point, been a party. There were half-empty bottles of champagne and a mostly eaten charcuterie board littered across a table. Young people wearing very expensive clothes and jewelry were scattered around the table. Long, slender limbs were carelessly draped haphazardly over tables and chairs and other people. Dead eyes stared sightlessly up at the lens of Tim's camera.

"When is this from?" Jason asked, tension shooting through him.

"I found them this morning," Tim answered quietly. "They were celebrating a deal with a new designer. I wanted to do a nighttime shoot somewhere else in the city, so I skipped the party. When I went to meet them for brunch today..."

Tim trailed off and puffed out a breath of air. He flicked through the rest of the pictures for Jason to see.

"Did you call the cops?"

"I spent most of the morning with them."

"What did you tell them?"

Tim shrugged and pulled his camera back, shutting it down and tucking it back into his bag. He slid back into his seat and took another pull on his beer.

"The truth. That they were partying and I found them the next day. That I knew they would be taking drugs."

"What did they say?"

"It's the GCPD. They barely care when a Gotham City citizen dies on their watch, let alone a bunch of idiot kids from another country."

"I'll-- I'll talk to Bruce."

Tim shut his eyes and shook his head, letting out a sharp breath.

"This is why people die, Jason. Because he makes decisions with no oversight, no one to question him or push back. It's why you got hurt so badly and--"

"Tim, I said I would talk to him."

Tim opened his eyes and locked his gaze with Jason.

"I'm going after them. Tonight. I don't care what he has to say about it."

"The corruption--"

"If he can't root out corruption without this, then he isn't really The World's Greatest Detective, now is he?"

Fair point.

"You used to agree with me on things like this," Tim pointed out softly. "You used to push back. You used to run a little wild with me."

"What time?"

Tim leaned back in his chair and took another sip of beer.

"I hear they have a deal going down at one AM in a warehouse in the Diamond District."

"You hear?" Jason pressed.

"I hear," Tim replied cryptically.

"I'll be there."

Tim smiled at him sharply and reached for a cheese fry. Jason felt a jolt of longing, almost nostalgia but not quite, run through him. They had sat like this together so many nights before. Jason missed it.

"So,” Tim asked, “how's Babs been doing?"

^*^*^*^*

Jason parked his motorcycle a few blocks away from the location of the deal just before one in the morning. He was wearing his most heavily armored uniform. Red and black with a cowl and a long heavy, bulletproof cape. He was hoping that he and Tim would be able to take everyone out before they drew their guns, but...

Taking chances was absolutely not something Jason did anymore.

Pulling out his cell phone, Jason was about to pull up Tim's number when there was a soft whooshing sound behind him. He turned to find Tim, just touching down after swooping in from the rooftop above. His landing was easy, graceful in a way that Jason could never really be. Not after what happened with the Joker. 

Retracting his zip line, Tim shot Jason a smile. He was wearing a version of his Swift uniform that Jason hadn't ever seen before. It was dark grey with light blue accents. His mask was, as usual, a domino and he had long since stopped wearing a cape. A pattern of a sharply pointed bird was pressed into his chest where Bruce's Bat symbol rested. Tim's uniform was closer to something Nightwing would wear, forgoing the heavy armor Bruce and Jason preferred in favor of a uniform that was thinner, lighter and allowed for more range of motion.

"Swift," Jason said in greeting.

"Hey there, Red Robin. Are you ready to kick some butt?" Tim asked, grinning as he sidled up to Jason's bike.

"Absolutely," Jason confirmed, stepping off his bike.

For a split second, the smile vanished from Tim's face, replaced by an expression of concern. Schooling his face back into a neutral expression, Tim tilted his head to one side as he looked at Jason

"You sure you're good to go in with me? I can do this on my own if you'd rather--"

"No, absolutely not. I'm going in with you," Jason insisted.

While Jason had been back in the field for a few years now, he spent most of his 'working' hours behind a desk doing research and surveillance for Bruce, Dick, and Damian. No one ever pushed him back into the field when Jason wasn't feeling up to it and he generally sat most large takedowns out. While he was better trained than most soldiers and nearly all of the GCPD police force, Jason's injuries from the Joker did limit his range of motion and he wasn't as quick or agile as he might have been.

Tim nodded silently, not pushing back like Bruce or Dick might have. With a tilt of his head, Tim gestured back to the rooftops.

"They're two buildings over. There's a skylight that I think will make for a wonderfully dramatic entrance. What do you think?"

"I'm here for crashing through some skylights," Jason said. Tim shot him another grin that made Jason’s heart stutter in his chest. Then Tim pulled his grapple gun back out. The noise of the gun was muted in the bustle of Gotham's nightlife as the hook caught on the rooftop above them. Tim made his way to the top of the building with Jason following close behind.

Jason was a little surprised to find that he easily kept pace with Tim as they made their way across the rooftops. They were careful to limit the amount of noise they made when they alighted on the proper rooftop. Making their way over to the skylight Tim had found earlier they peered down inside.

There was a group of six people in the warehouse below lit dimly by the moonlight streaming down through the skylight. Judging by the musculature of four of the men, they were there for protection. Enforcement. Their biggest obstacles.

The two others were eyeing each other shrewdly. One thin, sickly-looking man was peering inside of a duffle bag as another man counting a stack of money.

"Looks like we're just in time..." Tim whispered, eyeing the group below.

"Do you think all six have guns or just the four enforcers?" Jason asked, pitching his voice low as well.

"Guess we'll find out," Tim said, rising to his feet and leaping up and into the skylight.

"Swift, wait--" Jason began but the glass erupted around him as Tim shot down into the warehouse below.

Cursing softly to himself, Jason followed suit, jumping down after Tim.

By the time he hit the ground, Tim had already disarmed and knocked two of the muscled men unconscious. He had one of the drug dealers wrapped up in a bolas and was just tossing a batarang at the other. When it hit the other dealer it sparked up and hit the man with a taser blast.

All at once, the other two enforcers opened fire and Jason ducked behind a large piece of machinery as Tim let out an enthusiastic whoop. Jason heard a gasp and a clatter and when he peeked out, he saw one of the men laid out on the floor with Tim standing over him menacingly. The other man was fumbling for his gun and Jason pulled out a batarang, throwing it at the man. It hit his hand and with a cry, the man pulled his injured limb close to his body.

Taking advantage of the shock he had caused with the injury, Jason rushed in and hit the man head-on. His heart pounded as he knocked the man unconscious. Whirling to see if Tim needed help, Jason found Tim standing over the now unconscious man. He was grinning at Jason with a wide, bitter smile.

"Nice takedown, Red," he said before heading back over to the only member of the crew who was still conscious. The dealer Tim had taken down with his bola. Grabbing the panting man by the front of his jacket, Tim propped him up against a wall and grinned wickedly down at him.

"Look what we caught, Red," Tim intoned.

"What do you think he was doing here, Swift?" Jason asked, playing along with his game, even though he was still annoyed at Tim for jumping in without warning.

"I don't know, Red. Maybe you should check it out."

Jason made his way over to the duffle bag. It was on the floor just a few feet from them and it was packed to the brim with small baggies full of PMGT. He held one of the baggies up for Tim to see and Tim nodded.

Narrowing his eyes, Tim turned to face the other man. Without saying a word, he hit him hard in the stomach. Shock hit Jason in a wave, he tried hard to keep his expression neutral as Tim hit the man again.

Rushing over to the two of them, Jason grabbed Tim by the shoulder and pulled him back and away from the man on the ground.

"I think we have a few questions for him first."

Giving Jason a shrewd look, Tim shrugged.

"Just letting him know that we're serious," Tim said casually, stepping back.

Jason spared him one more look before getting down on one knee next to the man.

"Who is making the drugs for you?"

The man gasped and wheezed, clearly still struggling to find the air he needed to speak. Tim got down on one knee next to Jason and pulled out a wickedly sharp curved Batarang.

"Maybe he still thinks we aren't serious about this," Tim mused, eyeing up his blade.

"No! No! You're serious. I get it. You're serious," the man insisted. "I get it."

"Then I'm going to need some answers," Jason growled. "Before Swift here gets antsy. Patience isn't his strong suit."

The man spilled everything to them then. Their supplies, storage houses, runners, and transportation. They even got intel on how the drug money was laundered. Jason recorded exactly what the man said as Tim watched them both, intently.

When Jason was convinced he and Tim had all the intel they were getting out of him, Jason rose to his feet. Tim did the same, staring down at the man on the floor with a disgusted look on his face.

"Now, we're going to call the cops," Jason explained. "And you're going to repeat back to them exactly what you told me."

"What!? No, I can't--"

The man broke off when Tim aimed a hard kick to his ribs. He squawked out a cry and curled into the fetal position. Tim aimed another kick at his ribs but Jason caught his shoulders again.

"Hey, we have everything we need. Don't break his ribs."

"He's responsible for half a dozen deaths," Tim said coldly. "He could use a few more kicks."

"Let the GCPD and the prison system sort that out," Jason insisted.

Tim puffed out a breath and shook his head, schooling his expression back to something close to neutral before turning away.

"You call the cops. I'm heading home for the night.”

It took the cops about ten minutes to arrive. Jason watched from the rooftop as they headed the men into the blue and whites and motored off into the heart of Gotham city. Jason watched them go, wondering what exactly he was going to tell Bruce.

^*^*^*^*

It was a few days before Jason heard from Tim again.

Not for lack of trying. Jason was starting to wonder if he had left town. He had texted, called, emailed, and even tried to track Tim down at his hotel.

No luck.

A few days after the takedown, Jason was reviewing surveillance files on his laptop late at night. He was sitting on his sofa laptop on his lap when he heard a rustle at his door. Pulling up his camera feed, he saw Tim grinning up at him as he picked the lock to Jason's apartment door.

Rolling his eyes, Jason watched as Tim slid the door open and slipped inside.

Tim was wearing a pair of ripped jeans and a threadbare t-shirt under a jacket. He had a backpack slung over one shoulder that he deposited on the armchair next to Jason when he came in.

It made Jason wonder what he had been up to in the city the past few nights and if Bruce had caught sight of him.

Tim's hair was artfully tousled and he grinned at Jason as he walked over to the sofa where Jason was sitting. Tim sat down on the arm of the sofa next to Jason.

"You're up late? Bruce give you a dispensation on the bedtime?"

"He hasn't been that bad since we were kids and you know it," Jason shot back, tiredly.

Tim shrugged and shook his head.

"Have you seen him at all? Since you've been home?" Jason pressed, knowing the answer but asking anyway.

Tim didn't respond right away. He just stared levelly at Jason, eyes slightly narrowed and brows knitted.

Tim and Bruce hadn't ever really fought. They had one, very tense exchange after Superboy died. Jason didn't even know what Bruce had said. There had been no raised voices, no cursing, or throwing things.

A day later, Tim had just... left.

He didn't give Bruce a chance to apologize for whatever it was he had said. He didn't give Bruce a chance to make it up to him. He didn't even give Bruce a chance to say goodbye.

He had just left and never really looked back.

Now, when Tim did talk to Bruce, he pointedly kept it neutral and brief and they saw each other very rarely.

Puffing out a sigh Tim shook his head.

"Not really. I mean I saw him flying around but I didn't... see him, see him."

"He misses you, you know."

Tim looked away from Jason, staring off into the distance for a long moment before shaking his head again.

"I wanted to thank you for your help the other night," Tim said, pointedly changing the subject. He leaned over to grab his backpack and unzipped it.

Reaching inside, Tim pulled out three picture frames and handed them to Jason.

They were three photos Tim had taken in black and white.

The first was of Jason when he was Robin. He was standing on a rooftop, staring out over Gotham with a wide grin on his face. Bruce was standing just beside him, looking down at him with a proud look on his face.

Jason was older in the next photo. It was clearly taken just a year or so after Joker's attack. Jason was using some of the gym equipment in the Cave to do physical therapy, strengthening his legs. He was wearing a ratty old t-shirt and a pair of gym shorts. Bruce was in the background, again watching him with that fiercely protective look on his face.

The last photo had clearly been taken just a few days before. He and Bruce were standing on another rooftop. Jason was looking out across the city, eyes slightly narrowed as he observed Gotham. Bruce was, yet again, just behind him. His expression was guarded but proud.

Jason swallowed hard as he looked down at the photos.

"I didn't even see you out there that night," Jason said without thinking, his voice thick and low.

"Yeah, you never really did... Like, ever. One time when I was like 12, I accidentally kicked over a recycling bin while I was following you and you never even looked up..."

Jason abruptly looked up from the photo, watching Tim's expression carefully.

"That's a lie," he said shrewdly.

Tim grinned at him again.

"You'll never know," Tim teased and Jason felt his mouth go dry.

"You should move home," Jason said, again without thinking before he spoke.

"I should move home?"

"I... Yeah, sometimes I miss having you around," Jason confessed. "It was always more fun when the two of us could gang up on everyone."

Tim's expression shifted into a wistful, bitter smile.

"I think maybe it's the opposite."

"What?"

"I think you should move away," Tim said softly.

Jason puffed out a sigh and shook his head at Tim.

"Listen, I know you and Bruce don't get along. I get that. But he isn't really as bad as you--"

"It's not just about Bruce," Tim said, shifting slightly on the arm of the sofa so he leaned in closer to Jason. "When we're in Gotham, when we're around each other, we're so steeped in this life. You need to take some time away. Smell the roses a little. You graduated from Ivy two years ago and aside from a few internships here and there, what have you done with everything you learned? And what about all the things you could still learn?"

Jason didn't know what to say to that. He had kept meaning to find a job, do something with his degree but his work with Bruce kept taking up more and more of his time and--

Tim reached out a hand and cupped Jason's jaw. Jason stilled as Tim tipped Jason's head back and looked into his eyes.

"Don't waste your life, head bent over the BatComputer, ignoring the rest of the world, Jay. You need some space and distance. You need to see--" Tim broke off and shook his head, looking away from Jason as if not sure how he wanted to finish that thought.

Jason felt his stomach twist into knots as he processed what Tim was saying. Tim... wasn't wrong. Jason spent a lot of his time focused on his work with Bruce. There was no denying it partly to distract himself from what had happened to him in the past and from his fear of what could happen to him in the future.

He had been in a holding pattern for a few years now and maybe Tim was right.

Maybe it was time to break out of that.

Jason lifted his hand to cup at the one Tim still had at his jaw. Tim looked back down at him, his expression regretful.

"I... maybe you're right..." Jason admitted.

Tim's face shifted into a sad smile.

"I'm always right, Jaybird," Tim said softly.

Then Tim leaned, using the hand he had cupping Jason's face, he pulled Jason in to press a soft kiss at the corner of his mouth. Then another on his lower lip. Then another full on his mouth.

Jason felt something hot pool within him at the kiss. Tim's hair was tickling the skin of his cheeks, his breath ghosted across Jason's face and his mouth felt warm and soft.

"I have a place in Paris," Tim whispered against Jason's mouth. "Think about it. You can visit whenever you like."

Then Tim was gone.

Jason sat in stunned silence, struggling to wrap his head around Tim's smile, his kiss, and his offer.

Jason was, equal parts trepidatious and excited by the idea. Gotham City was his home and he had never really thought about leaving it before. But visiting...

Jason could visit.

When Jason did eventually fall asleep that night, it was to thoughts of Tim and that kiss and Paris.


End file.
